New era for men's basketball begins against Lake Superior State

The wait is finally over as the Keno Davis era of men's basketball begins at 7 p.m. tonight in an exhibition against Lake Superior State.

The game against the Lakers of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC) marks the first look Central Michigan fans will get of Davis’ Chippewas against another school.

“We’re expecting some growing pains of all of a sudden having some fans in McGuirk (Arena),” Davis said. “But we’re also expecting a great effort from our team.”

Davis was introduced as the new head coach on April 2. With only five returning players and just one returning starter, it’s anybody’s guess as to who will be the starting five to start the season.

“In my mind, I have a starting five, but for a preseason game, it’s not unheard of for me to change my mind hours before the game,” Davis said. “Our guys understand the rotation and it’s been more important about how many minutes — that they have an idea on how many they’re going to play.”

Davis held three intrasquad scrimmages that allowed fans to get a sneak peek at the CMU basketball program.

Not only did the scrimmages give fans an early look as to what the team will look like — it gave Davis an opportunity to see his players react to in-game situations and allow players a chance to step up.

“Our point guard play has been outstanding considering we have no point guards returning,” Davis said. “To have guys like Kyle Randall and Chris Fowler that have not only solidified a point guard spot, but they’ve also allowed us to play them together and have two point guards out there.”

"Madness in McGuirk" was held Friday night, where Davis preached that a strong student section is needed to get this program going in the right direction.

He held an event Monday where he showed students examples of what he is looking for from the student body.

“I’m looking to have the best student section in the conference,” Davis said. “That’s not just in numbers, that’s in affecting the game, because we feel we’re in the right direction, so we've got to make sure that each and every night, our students come out bigger and better than they did the night before.”